


An Avengers Christmas

by flightinflame



Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Christmas, Clint Cooks, F/M, Family, M/M, Multi, Team Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-12-27
Updated: 2012-12-27
Packaged: 2017-11-22 15:28:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,167
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/611328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flightinflame/pseuds/flightinflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint, Coulson and Natasha are back from visiting Phil's relatives, and the Avengers are celebrating Christmas together.</p>
            </blockquote>





	An Avengers Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [AwkwardAnnie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwkwardAnnie/gifts), [TriffidsandCuckoos](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TriffidsandCuckoos/gifts), [ShadowHaloedAngel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShadowHaloedAngel/gifts).



> A continuation of "A Normal Christmas" http://archiveofourown.org/works/588248/chapters/1057674 but can be read without that. Just what happens when the SHIELD trio get home.

It was nearly midnight by the time Coulson and his two agents arrived home after the visit to the older man’s parents. They were tired, and Clint was dozing on Natasha’s shoulder. She just let him – she knew that after all this, he would be feeling uncertain, not sure if he was wanted. Annoying though it was when Clint got cuddly, she tolerated him, and allowed him moments like this.

Coulson didn’t say anything, parking the car in the garage.   
“Time to get up Hawk…” Natasha murmured, pushing Clint’s head off of her, knocking him down onto her lap.

Clint blinked up at her, trying to work out what had happened.   
“Oh!” He sat up, bouncing to his feet and heading in through the door, which opened as JARVIS saw they had arrived.  
“Welcome back Agents Romanoff, Barton and Coulson.” The AI greeted them.

“Hi Jarvis!” Clint ran off towards the living room. Phil and Natasha exchanged glances.  
“Are we going after him?”  
“We’d better.” Coulson answered. “He can get into trouble otherwise, you know what he’s like.”  
“Probably find him tangled in the Christmas lights.” Natasha suggested, and Phil nodded – he wouldn’t put it past the archer to manage that. For someone with arguably the best hand-eye coordination in the world, Clint could be surprisingly clumsy when he put his mind to it.

When they reached the living room, they found Clint sat on the sofa, looking up at the gigantic tree which Tony had somehow managed to fit into the large space without making a hole in the ceiling – although that had nearly been needed.  
“You okay there Barton?” Natasha asked, sitting beside him.  
“Yeh. I’m good.” His face was lit by the twinkling fairy lights of the huge tree, festooned with as many decorations as he could find, mainly ugly shiny things that the others let him put up because he wanted to. “Just checking my tree was as perfect as when I left it.”

“It’s as hideous as ever.” Natasha reassured him with a soft smile.  
“It really is Legolas.” Tony’s drawl sounded behind them, and they turned to greet him. “You must have put in a lot of effort to make it that tacky.”  
“Hey…” Clint protested, but he was more relaxed than he had been the last few days, calming as he lay back on the sofa.

“I’m glad you’re back.” Tony answered. “Told you you had to be back in time for Christmas, and you listen to me, don’t you Agent.”  
“We are back here for Clint’s sake, not for yours.” Phil answered calmly, not arguing with the genius. He’d learned long ago that trying to argue with Tony just ended up exhausting him.

“Of course. But you turned up. How was playing happy families anyway?”  
Phil shook his head, and Tony arched an eyebrow.  
“That bad huh? Christmas with the family always sucks. Well, its nearly midnight, and Santa won’t drop your presents under the tree if you’re all still awake.”  
“There’s not space under the tree Stark, not with the amount that’s already under there.” Natasha pointed out. There were forty two different pairs of gift givers and recipients, and sometimes there was more than one present between those people. The pile of presents made even the huge tree look as though it were to scale.  
“It’s Santa. If he can fit down chimneys, he can fit more presents under the tree.” Tony answered. “Now, it’s time that all assassins and their handlers were tucked into bed. Shoo. Before Bruce notices I’ve gone and gets annoyed. We don’t want a grumpy Doctor Banner.”

“I can hear that you know Tony?” Bruce answered, wrapping his arms around Tony from behind.   
“I know. Come on. Bed time.” The two scientists retreated, and Coulson turned to his two agents.  
“He’s right you know. Bed time.”  
“Be good to sleep in our own bed.” Clint nodded, lying down in the bed after kicking off his shoes. He felt the bed sinking under the weight of Natasha and Phil, and fell almost instantly into sleep. It had been a long day.

***

Clint woke up early the next morning, feeling Natasha moving a little beside him. He wrapped his arms around her, cuddling her for a moment. She permitted him, then ducked out of his hold.  
“Patrol?” He whispered, knowing Natasha’s habit of pacing the tower in the early hours, ensuring that everything was where it should have been. It wasn’t that she doubted JARVIS’s ability to keep the tower safe, she just found it reassuring to run through familiar patterns, to know that the security was up to her standards.

Natasha nodded, slipping from the room. Clint stayed in bed a little longer, wanting to be warm. But dinner wouldn’t cook itself. He kissed Phil’s cheek, and then he slipped downstairs, making his way to the kitchen, seeing the doctor already there and working on the vegetables. He stood beside him, beginning to prepare the turkey.

They stood side by side in companionable silence, occasionally hearing Natasha’s footsteps passing by as they prepared lunch for the seven of them. Clint had placed the last tray of pigs in blankets into the oven when Tony walked in and embraced Bruce.  
“That smells good.”   
"Thank you..." Bruce turned around and kissed him, smiling at his lover.   
"You did so well." Tony reassured him, knowing that he was probably a little nervous about this. Bruce was always a little cautious, and cooking Christmas dinner involved a lot of responsibility.

"Thank you..." Bruce answered, kissing his cheek.  
"Come on. Both of you. Present time." He grabbed Bruce's wrist, and led him away, glancing back over his shoulder. "Come along Katniss."

Clint laughed, but he walked with him. The rest of the group were already assembled in the living room, but they were all waiting for them before they opened their presents.

"You get to hand them out." Tony informed him with a grin. Clint paused, not sure if he should feel patronised, but to be honest he wanted to hand out the presents. So he went to the pile, picking them up and passing them to everyone.

Steve had painted images for each of them, and small gifts for everyone - nothing expensive, but thoughtful. Tony's presents were electronics and upgrades to weaponry, and for Bruce a new lab to play in. Bruce had bought everyone books, but again he had thought hard about which book to give to them each. Clint had chosen gag gifts - fridge magnets for Tony, a tiny Captain America plushie for Cap, and reindeer antlers for Natasha. She stared at him in disbelief, but deigned to wear them for a couple of seconds, which was more than he could have hoped for.

Thor had brought everyone Asgardian food and weaponry decorated with gemstones and precious metals. For Steve, he had had a full set of armour crafted, and he helped the Captain into it, hands skimming over the man's sides. Steve had smiled at him shyly, his face tinted with pink, and Thor had known that it had been a good gift. Once he was wearing it, Steve looked regal, a fitting consort to the prince.

When it came to Coulson's gifts, the team unwrapped them in unison, only to groan when they found themselves faced with appointment books. The one saving grace was that for each of them, there was an appropriate cover - the symbol that had come to stand for them. The last gifts were Natasha's, and she was a little quiet as they were handed out. Her gifts were nothing gigantic, or special, just small things that their new owners would find useful - for Coulson some ties, for Clint some more bow strings, and other similar gifts. She looked away as they opened them, not sure if she had made the right choices.

"These are great Nat." Clint reassured her, and some of the tension drained from her body.  
"They are." Steve repeated firmly but gently, trying to soothe her. "Now... there's just this..." He handed a large and flat present over to Tony, who unwrapped it to reveal a group painting of them all in casual clothes, lounging around in the living room, the bots visible in the background. Thor smiled and kissed his cheek, and Tony grinned.  
"Great work Steve..."

"Dinner!" Clint called, almost as excited about the food as he had been about the presents. He left his gifts in a pile, shoving some of the larger pieces of wrapping paper into an air vent. Natasha looked at him with a raised eyebrow.  
"Barton, you are worse than a hamster."

He just grinned at her, then darted in to get the turkey from the oven.

Bruce laid out his contribution: sprouts, carrots, roasted potatoes, roasted parsnips, swede, and his own vegetarian sausages. Clint moved those plates aside a little to put the turkey down, and Steve stood to carve it, moving back a moment later when Clint placed down the pigs in blankets and sausage rolls.   
"That's everything."

The next few minutes could best be described as a feeding frenzy, as all of them grabbed the food, piling their plates high and then shoving what they had found into their mouths. Coulson watched them with amusement, but even he ate hungrily - you had to eat fast with an Asgardian, a soldier with fast metabolism and Clint on your team. But there was enough food that the pace slowed before they ran out. Then out came the desserts: mince pies, cake, chocolate yule logs and a flaming Christmas pudding. By the time those were finished, most of the team were full. Thor reached out and snagged a half-eaten mince pie from Natasha's plate. She didn't object, which was a clear sign she had eaten enough.

"Okay... food done, awesome work Clint, and brilliant Bruce but we already know you’re amazing at everything." Tony grinned at the two of them, before working out what needed to be next. He might have found this Christmas different from others he had experienced - for a start, no one was swearing at each other or silent, and there was physical contact - but he at least knew what was meant to happen. "Film time!"

The team, complaining about being full, trooped into the living room, curling up around each other. Bruce and Tony moved off to the side, whispering with a tablet held between them, working on some project or other – the last time anyone asked, it had been an attempt at a working light-sabre, so they didn’t question it now. Steve and Thor took the middle sofa, with a bowl of popcorn. Clint, Coulson and Natasha sat on the other sofa, enjoying the presence of the rest of their team, Coulson threading his fingers through Clint’s hair as his other hand rested against Natasha’s.

It was a children’s film on television, but none of them minded. It was Christmas, and they could relax. Full of food and warm, eyes slowly began to drift closed. That was when Phil’s phone rang.

“Hello?” He asked into it, and Clint sat up, pouting slightly and moving into Natasha’s lap. Phil wouldn’t normally answer a call on Christmas, so it must have been important. Coulson slipped from the room a moment later, and the entire team sighed, looking at each other.  
“I ate so much I’m not sure I can fit into the armour.” Tony joked, but when Coulson came back with a serious look on his face, they all went to get suited up.

“What is the problem Phil?” Steve asked once he was ready – he wouldn’t normally have called the older man by his first name, but Clint had let Steve know that he rather liked it (at least from his childhood hero) so Steve made an effort.

“We need to go and deal with Loki. Apparently he’s escaped again and is busy trying to terrorise New York Zoo.”  
Tony and Natasha rolled their eyes, then smirked at each other.  
“Oh.” Coulson continued, his face deadpan. “Apparently, Thor, he brought some bilgesnipe.”

Thor’s face split into a beam, and he nodded.  
“Perhaps, once we have defeated him, we could invite him back here to eat?” He suggested with a smile. “I do believe he would enjoy your feast.”

Steve looked at Thor, at the sheer honest hope in his eyes, and nodded.  
“You can ask him.”  
Overjoyed, Thor nearly kissed him, but settled for embracing him tightly and rubbing his back, murmuring thanks.

Clint and Natasha climbed into the front of the quinjet, and Steve looked at the rest of his team. They looked professional now, no longer comfortable and relaxed, but a team that was ready for battle. Christmas might not have gone to plan. The only one who was seeing family was Thor, and knowing their luck Loki would turn him into a frog again. But it was enough. It might not have been a perfect Christmas, but it was perfect for them.

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is a couple of days late, but I hope you still all enjoyed it.


End file.
